Wizards: Calm Before the Storm

Starring:

Brad Kavanagh as Albert Wagner

Bryan Cranston as Klaus Wagner

Cara Buono as Mila Wagner

Millie Bobby Brown as Anna Wagner

Nathalia Ramos as Elsa Hofmann

Nathaniel Parker as Stefan Hofmann

Joe Kerry as Karl Hofmann

Nichollas Hoult as Günter Hofmann

Sigourney Weaver as Hanna Hoffmann

Cloris Leachman as Ida Wolf

Sean Connery as The Great Dragon

Maya Hawke as Jennifer Smith

Elle Fanning as Tammy Smith

Chapter 1: Meet the Dragon

Black Forest, Germany, 1981….

It was a calm and peaceful day in Germany's Black Forest. The tops of the trees were gently blowing in the calm wind, the sound of birdsong echoed in the air, whilst squirrels were scurrying about in the treetops.

On the forest floor, deer were prancing about. A small stream that leads down to the Rhine river, the water gently lapping on the rocks. In the forest there was a trail, this wasn't out of the ordinary as the Black Forest had several trails, which the locals and tourists would walk along to view the Black Forests picturesque scenery.

This trail however was very, very rarely used. This was because according to the locals, the trail led to a large cave in the side of the mountains which if you went into, then you would never emerge from again. A very well known incident involving this cave occurred during the Second World War, a group of Waffen SS soldiers and their commanding officer went to the cave after a rumor about a group of Jews hiding in the cave reached them, so they decided to investigate.

But upon going into the cave, they were never seen again, their disappearance assumed as the group becoming lost on their journey.

Either way, no-one dared come to the cave.

There was an old legend that a powerful Sorcerer had once lived in the cave. The story was that when he died, he placed a powerful curse on the cave, which he had lived in.

The legend managed to keep people away.

But in truth, the cave was inhabited. But its occupant wasn't a Sorcerer like the old legend said, in fact he wasn't even human. Those who knew never returned to tell the tale.

But if you had a death wish and decided to visit the cave, then you might just see for yourself. Also if you were really, really lucky, then you just might see him, right before he sent you on your way to Heaven.

Or Hell, depending on your past misdeeds.

But there would soon be one who wouldn't share the fate of those that had met their end at the cave.

It was a bright sunny afternoon in the Black Forest. In the forbidden cave, its occupant was in deep thought. It was there that we all saw what he is!

A large, scaled, terrifying dragon!

He had golden scales that glinted in the small amount of light that entered the cave.

He was the Great Dragon, an ancient and very powerful Dragon. He was one of the oldest beings on Earth, having been alive since the Age of Legend.

The Age of Legend being a time many, many years ago, where the various magical creatures often seen in story books lived together, before mankind rose to the top with their ever expanding technological advancements.

When that happened, most of the magical creatures went into an enchanted sleep, to wait for the day that the world would be ready for them again, when mankind had abandoned science and technology and gone back to the ways of nature, but most importantly magic. Tragically however, some of the magical races had died out.

This Dragon was essentially keeping watch for the day magic could return to the world.

At the same time, though he remembered the days of the Age of Legend. He remembered when he was able to flying about without having to use a glamour spell. When the Elf Kings and Princess's lived in their beautiful forest or crystal palaces, when the Dwarf Lords ruled from the mountain halls. When Faeries fluttered through the treetops and the graceful Unicorns pranced through the fields.

When the mighty Dragons like him dotted their skies with their leather wings and their hot breath wind, when even the marauding hordes of Orcs, Goblins and Trolls went about, plundering as they went. Such times should have lasted forever, sadly, they were now mostly forgotten by mankind and only existed as stories to be told. He felt sad at the fact that it had ended.

He even gave a sad remembrance to the names of the magical races who had died out.

He had lost so many friends.

So many members of his family.

He felt completely alone.

Satyrs, Halflings, Leprechauns, Gnomes, Giants and Centaurs had all sadly met their ends before the Age of Legend came to an end.

It still haunts the Dragon to this day.

The Great Dragon then said to himself, "why, why did it have to end?"

He then curled up in sadness.

Just then a sound from the entrance of his cave caused him to raise his head. He listened to this sound for a minute, trying to figure out what it was and he realized what it was.

Someone had once again entered his cave!

The Great Dragon then got up on his legs and decided to see who it was.

He said to himself, "I wonder if this intruder could do with a nice roasting…."

The Great Dragon then lumbered towards the entrance of his cave and the source of the sound. As he got closer the sound began more clearer, it sounded like crying.

The Great Dragon raised an eyebrow in confusion.

He thought to himself, "who is crying in my cave?"

The Great Dragon reached the entrance of his cave.

He then got his answer, and was very surprised at what he found.

It was a little boy, crying into his hands so hard that he had yet to spot the dragon standing before him.

The Great Dragon wondered what a small child was going out here, all on his own. He knew that most parents often keep a close eye on their children and would never let them wander off of their own.

However, seeing the poor little boy like this made him feel sorry. The little boy was clearly lost and wanted his parents very much.

Whilst he was crying, the Great Dragon quietly walked up to him.

He then said gently, "hello there little one."

The boy slowly looked up in total shock upon seeing a real life Dragon!

He then backed away, clearly frightened at the Great Dragons massive size.

The Great Dragon tried to reassure the boy and said, "it's okay…. I'm not going to hurt you, little one."

The boy slowly began to calm down as he stared up at the Great Dragon.

He then asked in a whimpering voice, "you go-go-going to eat me?"

The Great Dragon shook his head and said, "no, of course not. I never eat children."

The little boy then calmed down, although he still had some tears streaming down his face. The Great Dragon wondered what he was doing out here all on his own, he was very certain that his parents wouldn't let him go wandering off on his own.

The Great Dragon then knelt down to the little boy and said, "what is your name little one?"

The boy stuttered, "A-Albert?"

The Great Dragon gave him a comforting smile and said, "well hello there Albert, I'm the Great Dragon its a pleasure to meet you!"

Albert gave a shaky smile.

The Great Dragon then asked, "may I ask what are you doing out here all alone young Albert?"

Albert said, "I…. I got lost."

The Great Dragon then gave him a questioning look and asked, "and how did you get lost?"

Albert said, "I was hiking with my parents. I trailed behind and got seperated from them."

Albert then began to cry again, looking at the crying child brought him deep sympathy from the Great Dragon. Getting lost a such a young age was a scary, but he wondered how Albert's parents were doing. The two of them were out of their minds with worry and grief, wondering what had happened to their little boy.

The Great Dragon contemplated on what he should do in this situation.

But as he looked down at Albert, he knew what he needed to do.

The Great Dragon then spoke gently, "why don't you stay with me little one, if your parents haven't found you by tonight, then I will send them a message telling them where you are."

Albert asked, "really?"

The Great Dragon nodded.

Albert then dried his eyes a little as the Great Dragon brought him into his cave.

….

Meanwhile, at the Black Forest Search and Rescue Center, Alberts Parents, Klaus and Mila Wagner were both livid with the news that they were both given.

The Leader of the Search party that was supposed to look for Albert had just learned that his footprints had being found going up the Forbidden Trail, he then decided that it too dangerous, even for a 5 year old child. He tried to gently break the news to his parents, however, their reaction was absolutely anything but understanding.

Klaus was yelling, "you expect us to stop searching for our child because of some bullshit urban legend?!"

The leader said, "Sir, I understand-"

Mila yelled, "BULLSHIT! Our son is all alone in those woods! Who knows what's happening to him right now as we speak!?"

The Leader then said, "look, I'm sorry that you're both uspset, truly I am, but you both must understand that paranoia about the Foribdden Trail is just too great, especially what happened to those Waffen SS soldiers almost forty years ago."

Klaus growled, "yeah, exactly…. FORTY FUCKING YEARS AGO! Do people still believe that horse shit?!"

However a very unsympathetic member then said, "oh for the love of God, what's the point of crying over a little boy? Why can't you two just accept the inevitable!?"

Mila then proceeded to run over to the asshole and punched him in the mouth, knocking out a good four teeth!

She then shrieked, "don't you fucking dare ever say that again!"

The crew member who was clutching his bloody mouth then said, "I was only telling you the facts, besides you and your husband can always replace him either adopting or having another one!"

Klaus and the leader quickly grabbed Mila to keep her from beating the man to death!

Mila then shouted, "you fucking son a fucking bitch."

The crew member just said, "crazy bitch."

The leader said, "if you value your balls, stop antagonizing the angry mother!"

The crew member just shook his head and said, "fine, fine."

The crew member then left to head to the inferminary, the leader then turned to face Klaus and Mila.

They both looked incredibly angry.

The leader just sighed, "look, I'm truly sorry for your son, but I'm afraid paranoia on the Forbidden Trail is just too great. Believe, me if it weren't, well, then we would have gone looking for him in a heartbeat."

Klaus growled, "we don't care how paranoid you all are! We'll look by ourselves if we have to!"

The leader said, "I wouldn't advise i-"

Mila yelled, "we don't care! We're gonna find our son!"

With that, both Klaus and Mila stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind them. But just then Klaus quickly poked his head into the room again and shouted, "and I think that you'll be pleased to know that we'll be suing you slackers for laziness."

As the search party all groaned, Klaus slammed the door and raced off with his wife to find their son.

….

Hours later, both Klaus and Mila were still searching for Albert. Night had fallen hours earlier, but even that wasn't going to stop them from searching for their son. They both had a pair of flashlights with them and were currently going up the Forbidden Trail.

They both knew full well that the Forbidden Trail was where Albert's footprints had been found, so that was the best place to start.

They weren't gonna stop until they found their boy, even in the face of death!

Mila looked at her watch, she saw that it was just after midnight. Hours of searching and still no sign of Albert, this was becoming too much for her to bear.

Klaus noticed her fear and held her close, saying, "we'll find him. I promise. Even if it takes all night."

Mila looked at Klaus and saw that he was having a hard time accepting their son's disappearance as well. Just then, they both thought that they heard someone or something speaking to them, inside their heads.

"Your son…. He is in the cave…. Do not be afraid…."

Both Klaus and Mila looked around in shock at what had just happened. Someone had just spoken to them, through their minds. This had to be some sick idea of a joke, saying that their son was safe and in a cave.

Klaus then shouted out, "who are you, show your face, you fucking coward?"

The voice said, "calm yourself. I am a friend. Your son is safe."

Mila then shouted, "how do we know you're not some twisted liar, trying to fool us?"

The voice said, "as a show of good faith, simply stand by the entrance, and your son will be there."

Both Klaus and Mila looked at each other. This had to be a trick, but the owner of the voice sounded so sincere. They both knew that whoever it was could be acting in order to lull them into a false sense of hope.

But at the same time, they both wanted their son back, and so they decided to take the chance.

Klaus then asked, "where do we find this cave?"

The voice replied, "it is the cave on the end of the forbidden path."

Both Klaus and Mila decided that was where they would head, if Albert was there. They both set off immediately, heading up the Forbidden Trail. After about two hours, they finally arrived at the cave entrance. Albert was nowhere to be seen, both Klaus and Mila began to wonder if they had been fooled.

Klaus then said, "alright we're here, now where is our son?"

The voice echoed from the cave, "alright, Albert. They're here…. Go to your parents."

Klaus and Mila waited with baited breath by the entrance.

Just then they both heard something coming out of the cave, they both held their breath in anticipation. Their eyes widened when they saw who it was.

It was Albert!

He was waddling out of the cave, and grew excited when he saw his parents there!

He shouted, "mommy, daddy!"

His parents shouted, "Albert!"

Albert quickly ran into the arms of his parents.

They then both scooped him up their arms and spun him around. They were both so happy that he was alive and well.

Any worries that he might be hurt had completely faded from their minds.

Mila then said to Albert, "Albert, don't scare us like that."

Klaus agreed with his wife's words and sakd, "you had us worried to death, son."

Albert cried, "I-I'm sorry…. I got lost…. I couldn't find you! I was so scared."

Klaus then said, "but at the same time, we're so happy to have you back."

Albert happily said, "the Great Dragon said if you didn't come for me by night then he would bring you here."

His parents asked, confused, "the Great Dragon?"

A slow rumble from the cave made Albert's parents step back as the Great Dragon slowly exited the cave.

They were both shocked at the sight before them. They were both utterly speechless that a creature from folklore and mythology was standing right before them, no that wasn't possible, it had to be a trick.

Klaus whispered to his wife, "this isn't real, there isn't a Dragon in front of us?"

Mila whispered in agreement, "that's right, we're both obviously very tired and ours are playing a trick on us."

The Great Dragon said, "I'm afraid that this is no trick."

Klaus, however, wasn't convinced and said, "why don't we pinch ourselves, Mila?"

Mila agreed with her husband and said, "that's right, pinching always works."

The two frantically pinched themselves and each other, but the Dragon was still there!

The Great Dragon gave them an amused grin and said, "you I'm not going to go away until you ask me to."

Albert said, "mommy, daddy, he's real!"

Both Klaus and Mila were shocked at the fact that a real life Dragon, both living and breathing, was standing right in front of them, and not only that, but had also taken care of their son.

Suddenly, parental instinct kicked in, they both thrust Albert behind them, in an attempt to project him. Then Klaus grabbed a branch and Mila a rock, they then both took fighting stances before the Great Dragon.

The Great Dragon didn't move a muscle as he said, "please, I do not wish to fight."

Klaus was about to rebuttal, when Albert ran around his parents and stood in front of the Great Dragon with his arms spread out.

Albert then said, "mommy, daddy, wait. The Great Dragon is my friend."

Klaus looked at his son incredulously and said, "your friend?! Albert, that's exactly what he said to that poor group of Trolls before he ate them!"

The Great Dragon said, "I'll have you know, I've never eaten a single troll in my life."

Mila then said, "well it's very common knowledge that Dragons love to raze villages, plunder their treasure and to eat virgin maidens."

The Great Dragon said, "I've never burned a village down, I have no treasure, and any time someone gave me a virgin sacrifice, I sent them back to knock some sense into those idiot village elders."

Klaus and Mila still kept their guard up.

Klaus then said, "but surely you find Goblins delicious?"

The Great Dragon said, "bleh! Anything but goblins! They taste like shoe leather wrapped in tissues!"

Mila then asked, "but surely you love the taste of Elves, Dwarves, Faeries and Orcs?"

The Great Dragon said, "I am close friends with the first three, and Orcs frankly taste like rotten moss mixed with burnt tree bark!"

Klaus then asked, "well I guess its Unicorns then?"

The Great Dragon asked, "why would I want to eat something so beautiful?"

Mila replied, "well because Dragons are one of the most vicious creatures in all mythology and folklore."

The Great Dragon said, "is that what legends say? Dragons are some of the most protective and noble creatures in the world", he then paused for a moment before speaking, "well, Gold Dragons, anyway."

Albert then said, "Mr. Great Dragon is a Gold Dragon mommy and daddy."

Klaus and Mila glanced at their son.

Klaus then looked at the Great Dragon and asked, "Gold Dragon?"

The Great Dragon then nodded and said, "that's right one of three."

Mila asked, "then who are the other two?"

The Great Dragon thought before speaking, "there's the Red Dragons, greedy bastards who hoard treasure like in those stories."

Mila then asked, "and the third?"

The Great Dragon gave a dark scowl before speaking in contempt, "the Black Dragons!"

Klaus, Mila and even Albert gave very confused looks.

These Black Dragons didn't sound very friendly.

Klaus then shrugged and said, "these Black Dragons don't sound that dangerous at all."

The Great Dragon said, "just be glad they're hibernating right now, or they'd fry you for saying that."

Klaus shuddered at the thought at being fried alive by a Dragon. Mila, who had been asking the Great Dragon questions, along with her husband, suddenly realized something.

Mila then said, "what a minute, are we seriously having a conversation with a Dragon?"

Albert and the Great Dragon nodded.

Mila then said, "this isn't happening, this is not fucking happening!"

Albert yelled, "mommy! Language!"

Mila then realized that she had cursed in front of her son and was immediately embarrassed.

A stern look from Klaus only made her want the ground to swallow her up. The Great Dragon gave an amused look.

He then realized that it was way after midnight and that Albert would need sleep due to his age.

The Great Dragon said, "I think it best if you get your little one home."

Klaus then looked at his watch and realized that he was right, but then both he and Mila let out a yawn.

Mila yawned, "I don't think that we'll be able to drive home tonight."

Upon hearing that, an idea popped into the Great Dragon's head.

He suggested, "you may sleep here for the night, if you wish."

Both Klaus and Mila looked a little uneasy at the Great Dragons request. Sure, it was nice of him, but still.

The Great Dragon noticed this and gave them a comforting smile.

Albert said, "mommy, daddy, you can trust him. He'll protect us."

Klaus looked at both Albert and Mila before saying, "if Albert says that he is then it's good enough for me."

Mila sighed and said, "alright. I suppose one night couldn't hurt."

The Great Dragon then led the family inside his cave. It was quite dark at first, but soon they came to a large cavern that was lit by some flickering fires. The Wager family were amazed by the sheer size of it, just then their gaze fell upon a group of charred skeletons laying in a corner of the cave.

Klaus and Mila held onto Albert and looked to the Great Dragon for an explanation.

The Great Dragon said, "soldiers and their leaders who claimed they wanted to make me a weapon."

Mila held Albert close as Klaus decided to go over to the skeletons and have a look. When he approached the skeletons, he noticed that some of them had melted SS helmets on their heads.

Klaus' eyes widened in recognition as he said, "oh my God."

Mila then asked, "what is it, Klaus?"

Klaus said, "these are Nazi soldier's! They must have wanted to use a dragon to win the war!"

The Great Dragon looked at Klaus and asked, "you know these Nazis?"

Klaus nodded and said, "yes I do. Back in 1942, they were set up here to investigate a possible group of Jews hiding in the caves. They were never seen again."

Mila said, "well, I guess now we know what happened to them…. Good riddance."

The Great Dragon then asked, "may I ask; who are these Nazis?"

Klaus explained, "a regime from the 1930's that wanted to purge the world of groups like the jews, led by an insane dictator named Adolf Hitler."

The Great Dragon then frowned and said, "I take it that this Adolf Hitler wasn't a good man at all?"

Mila said, "that's an understatement."

The Great Dragon then noticed that Albert had fallen asleep in his mothers arms. Seeing this sweet scene brought a smile to his scaly lips, both Klaus and Mila looked down and saw the same thing.

They smiled down at their sleeping son.

The Great Dragon then said, "why don't you two get some sleep as well?"

Klaus and Mila nodded and laid down next to their son.

They were both very tired as well, and held their son close as they drifted off to sleep.

The Great Dragon looked at the sleeping family, deep in thought.

He thought, 'such kind people, caring for each other so deeply.'

The family continued to sleep as the Great Dragon watched over them protectively. Due to Dragons very rarely needing sleep, he decided to stay awake all night.

His gaze kept going back to the sleeping family throughout the night.

When the morning came, the Wagner Family left the Great Dragon's cave. Albert liked the place so much that both Klaus and Mila promised that they would come again.

The Great Dragon was greatly pleased by this news.

It had been over a thousand years since he last had a human friend, and he hadn't had one since the Great Culling of the Wyrms.

But here came Albert, a little boy with a heart of gold that the Great Dragon was proud to call his friend.

….

And thus we begin the prequel to our Wizards story! Co-written by Irishman1996.